Standing Stones

Folklore

Practically in Exmoor, one of the standing stones here (at SS601439) is 2.5m high - or at least it was before being struck by lightning very recently. The other (at ss603438) lies down and is 2.8m long (with another bit unattached slightly to the north, according to the SMR Magic record). Also on Mattocks Down, in the vicinity of the first stone, are four round barrows.

Lilian Wilson's 1976 book 'Ilfracombe Yesterdays', gives the local view of the standing stone: "This is a rock believed to be a 'Gathering Stone' around which chiefs and tribes of that part of Devon met in times of trouble, or when they had matters to discuss."